Moth frenzy update: Vacu-packed clothes

Since it is now officially summer in the UK it is time to think anti-moth storage strategies.

Oh you may mock, but those with experience of moth infestations will know this is DANGER TIME, when the little pests increase their platoon ranks with stealth reproduction. I have been pleased with my pheromone traps (see related posts), which fill up with adult moths as soon as the weather warms up and I am now vigilant with moving my clothes around so the little buggers are exposed to sunlight and fresh air (neither of which they are keen on). But now it’s summer, I have to pack my winter woollies away and that makes me nervous. Very, very nervous indeed as given a quiet, dark space at the back of a cupboard it would take them no time at all to increase their ranks.

So, I am using these rather ingenious vacuum pack bags where you remove all the air, so even if the clothes you are storing have moth grubs in them, they wont be able to hatch as there is no oxygen for them to function. The unexpected side effect of using these bags is that they are fantastic space savers too. I might be a little slow to the party here, but I’d never thought of using vacuum pack bags for storing clothes, they are also strangely enjoyable to use, what with sucking all the air out with the hoover and ending up with a strange, rigid corpse of a garment you could use as a deadly frisbie across the bedroom.

Not surprisingly the best vacu-pack bags I’ve found come from John Lewis which has a special offer on at the moment of two for £9, and Lakeland which has a ‘buy one get the lowest price one free’ offer on, and a slightly better size selection. Clearly, it’s the time to be buying and if you are anything like me, buy more than you think you will need as once you start vacu-packing, it’s so addictive that before long you’ll have sucked the air out of your entire wardrobe.

I would strongly advise holding the hoover over the locking system for a very long time, until you are sure you’ve got all the air out, and then some, as you can never have too little air, if you get me. Also check occasionally on the pile of plastic, as one of my bags filled up with air again while stored away, I think I must have either filled it up too much, or accidentally bashed the locking mechanism.